The Ivel Ringing Group was formed in 1990 and currently consists of half a dozen ringers and as many trainees/helpers. We operate at sites across Bedfordshire, some associated with the river Great Ouse, but concentrating on the CES sites as well as catching Mute Swans.

Monday, 31 January 2011

Only Mike, Roy and myself were present, but, not expecting too much as the feeding station had been moved yesterday. This is because National Grid are carrying out work to cables in the vicinity of the previous site.

Saturday, 15 January 2011

The water level in the River Great Ouse at Bromham was very high today. The volume going over the Bromham Weir and through the old bridge at Bromham was formidable. Likewise through the Mill. The rain and cloud has given milder weather, with the ground very soft.

A flock of 30+ Siskins were actively feeding in the Alders, at times breaking off to fly round in a tight-knit group calling to each other. A few dropped to drink from puddles. A Heron was by the river. Goldcrests were calling on site.

Despite all the above activity, only 2 birds were ringed today (1 Great Tit, 1 Blue Tit), while 1 Great Tit was retrapped. Birds are canny creatures and they will exploit food sources, but when exhausted rapidly move on to other sites. I had filled the seed feeder on Monday, but by today it was empty - hence so few birds ringed.

Monday, 10 January 2011

Short session first thing at Bromham Mill on 10th January. A nice sunny morning, the ground was crunchy (not fully frozen).

13 new birds ringed with no retraps:

Blackbird 1

Blue Tit 7

Great Tit 4

Robin 1

A photo of Blue Tit L302968 is shown here. A Heron was feeding by the River Ouse. Several Cormorants flew over. A few Siskins passed through. Two Marsh Tits came to the bird feeders. A small group of Redwings were in the trees as I left.

A short session at Cardington, with nets open from 10:30am until 1pm. There was still some frost and puddles were frozen (see right), the sun was burning the frost off and the streams were flowing. Not too many birds around, there were fewer Fieldfares in the area than the previous week, 1 or 2 Goldcrests in the bushes, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker calling.

Totals for the session were as follows (retraps in brackets):

Blue Tit 1 (2)

Goldfinch 2

Great Tit 3

Long-tailed Tit (1)

Robin (2)

The retraps included 3 birds initially ringed in the autumn of 2009 (1 Robin and 2 Blue Tits).

Both retrap Robins were above the maximum expected by the IPMR software - which expects the maximum weight for a Robin to be 24.5g:

P546652 had fledged in 2009. It was ringed on 31/8/9 and weighed 19.6g. When retrapped on 9/1/11 it weighed 25.6g.

P546799 was ringed on 28/11/10, but was not weighed that day. When retrapped on 9/1/11 it weighed 26.9g.

The two species that appear to be putting on more weight than any others are Robin and Dunnock. Perhaps I should stop offering sunflower hearts, but provide a less-energy packed food instead.

The Marsh Tits were the 2nd & 3rd ever, the Coal Tit was the 1st, the Blackcap total was the 2nd highest (in 20+ years), and this year's total is the highest apart from 2004 when we ringed over 400 Sand Martins.

The Red Kite was identified as an ex Chiltern's pulli released at Harewood, West Yorkshire in 2000, there were at least 3 Dunnocks from 2004, a 2003 male Blackbird ringed the following year and a group record breaking Garden Warbler ringed on its return from Africa in 2003.

British Trust for Ornithology

Bird ringing in Britain and Ireland is organised and co-ordinated by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).A network of over 2,500 highly trained and licensed volunteers currently ring over 850,000 birds every year. On average only one in every one hundred birds ringed is subsequently recaught elsewhere or found by a member of the public and reported.

Every report of a ringed bird is therefore of extreme value. To report a dead or colour-ringed bird, go to http://www.ring.ac .For more information about ringing in the UK and Eire, please go to http://www.bto.org/. A ringing scheme operates in every European country and most countries of the world.